Homeward Bound
by Elizabeth Bladderwrack
Summary: The four hobbits return to the Shire, and get reintergrated in to hobbit society.


A/N: The four main hobbits (Merry, Pippin, Sam and Frodo) are owned solely by Mr. Tolkien (or more accurately his executors), everyone else is mine. I had fun writing it and I hope two things: it shows you do too So at any rate, enjoy. (  
  
They had reached it; they really had finally reached it. All that stood between them and the Shire now was an emerald hill dotted with trees. Frodo glanced about him at his three stout companions; they hadn't spoken since they broke camp at dawn, but he wasn't worried, the talk would come later. If he was looking more closely he would have noticed that the grim determination present at dawn was lighting as they came to the foot of the hill. Sam shifted his pack on his back; Merry and Pippin looked at each other gripped hands and laughed.  
They crested the hill, stopped, and looked down below. Nestled in the valley below was a village surrounded by farmland looking golden in the morning light. It was a productive little valley; the men and older boys were sowing the fields while the women and children did chores. The breeze brought up the sounds of women singing and gossiping, children laughing and barnyard noises; the smells of moist earth, and the smells of food cooking for it was almost time for second breakfast. The hobbits stood there and knew for the first time in a long time that they were home. They stood and watched as the women doing laundry at the millpond gathered both children and garments and headed home. They stood and watched as an older girl attempted to feed the chickens while her little brother chased them.  
They hitched up their packs and descended the hill. The trail had worn hard on them. Hobbits as a general rule are short and round. The long days of walking made their legs well muscled, the days of fighting and training sculpted their arms and shoulders, the long days of little food and less sleep made them lean. These were not the hobbits of the Shire; these were made of sterner stuff.  
They came to the foot of the hill and took the road into the village. A short while later the tame woodlands gave into fields. Men and boys moved together like a well oiled machine. First, the man with the plow went through overturning the moist earth, followed closely by another man with a sack of seed spreading it over the upturned soil. A tweenager followed him sprinkling water over the fields; older boys followed at a length of thirty paces throwing stones at the birds. The hedges surrounding the individual farms were covered with newly laundered linens and clothing. Most of the households had finished, but not this next one, two older tween girls were laughing and arguing more than they were hanging out laundry. One of the girls was tall (nearly up to Merry's chin) and decidedly un-hobbitly. She was as tall as most hobbit men, she had straight hair and what was even more startling is that it wasn't even dark--it was light; but she was proportioned as a proper girl was, and oddly pretty, for all that. The other girl was a proper hobbit. She was short with big hips and big breasts and a small waist. Her long curly hair was up in a messy bun; she had rosy cheeks, jolly brown eyes, and a smiling mouth besides. The tall girl was wearing a work dress in shades of dark blue and was holding a large wicker basket filled to the brim with laundry, the other girl, arrayed in shades of pink and burgundy, was in charge of hanging out the laundry on the hedge to dry. Presently the Company heard her exclaim, "Wynn if you don't stop pushing me with that basket, then I'll tell Basil Ferris that you think he's cute!" "If you do that, Ruby, then I'll tell the time when..." she leaned in and whispered something in Ruby's ear. Ruby's eyes widened and her mouth opened into an expression of complete outrage, "You wouldn't!" she yelled. Wynn pretended to think about it and wrinkled her nose and nodded. Merry, Pippin, Sam, and Frodo were now at the edge of the hedge the girls were "working" on and watching the argument escalate with amusement, in Merry and Pippin's case; worried amusement, in Sam's case; and just plain worried in Frodo's case. In the back of all of their minds two thoughts were fighting for dominance "Food!" and "Females!" "Wynter Scattergold Mistlethwaite, if you tell him that then I'll tell him about the time that you forgot to add your dirty clothes to the pile and had to wear one of Old Ma's bonnets and kirtles for a week!" "Would not" "Would to" Wynter stuck her tongue out at Ruby, who immediately returned the favor. Wynn made a fist and shook it at Ruby while trying to maintain a straight face. Ruby did the same. They stared at each other like that for awhile. "Damn you, Ruby I can't try to look serious if you're trying to look serious." "Well I can't try to look serious if you're trying to look serious." Sam cleared his throat. Ruby and Wynn tried to look industrious, "Mother, we were just finishing up..." Ruby said as she started to turn about. She found herself staring at Pippin's chest, her eyes traveling up to his face, "You're not Mother" she said semi-accusingly. "You're right," Merry said, "and we also don't care if you finish hanging out the laundry either, because there's this little matter of the lot of us being heartily sick of lembas bread and a wondering about a little matter known as Second Breakfast." His mouth was beginning to water at the smells coming out of the substantially sized hobbit hole. Frodo roused himself from his reverie about comfortable seating to ask where in the Shire they are. The girls were a little taken aback by his question, and informed him that they were in Mikeldelving, of course. Ruby and Wynn exchanged glances and Ruby began the show, "Mother has a rule," she and Wynn continued in unison while imitating the poor woman, "If you're going to invite anyone to pass a meal with us whether it be a big meal or a small meal, at least two people have to know their names." The girls finished and stared expectantly at them. After a minute and a half of nothing happening Ruby looked at Wynn and nodded. She walked towards them and said, "That means introduce yourselves, you blockheads. Otherwise it's lembas bread in the fields, whatever that is". Frodo jumped to alert after he realized that it was up to him to start, "Hello, my name is Frodo Baggins, and I am pleased to you're your acquaintance." "I'm Samwise Gamgee, call me Sam", he said giving Wynn and Ruby a slight bow. "I am Meriadoc Brandybuck, you may call me Merry," and not to be outdone by Sam he gave the girls his best bow. Pippin looked slantwise at his friend and knew that if he played this introduction down, he'd never live it down. So he looked at the girls and announced his name as Peregrin Took, told them the name he usually goes by, and kissed their fair hands. Merry was laughing at him, and the girls looked at once flattered and shocked. The kissing of the hand move was one that was known in the Shire but almost never done. Ruby and Wynn gathered their wits about themselves and introduced themselves. "I am Wynter 'Scattergold' Mistlethwaite; most people call me Wynn, Scat, or Goldie" "And I am Ruby Knotwise. Our menu for today is pancakes with jam, butter, or syrup; eggs; bacon; apple turnovers; and home fries. Now the sooner we finish hanging out the laundry, the sooner we eat. Any of you boys care to help?"  
  
* * *  
  
It was crowded, noisy, and dim in the dining room and kitchen area. The Food Room (as it was called) was the biggest room in the whole hole. At the far end of the room was a large kitchen fireplace with two bread ovens on the left and a warming rack on the right. An old woman was arranging apple turnovers on a platter. A middle aged woman took four loaves of bread out from the top oven and put the bread board on the edge of the hearth and inched it into a basket held underneath. A young woman was frying bacon over the fire. A large amount of children bustled about setting the table, arguing and poking each other with the silverware. Already on the table was a crock of porridge, a dish of preserves, several platters of pancakes, a platter of home fries, and some flowers that one of the children picked. Ruby and Wynn headed into the fray to get the butter and syrup while shouting for extra chairs. The table was actually two long and narrow tables pushed together. It was able to seat 40 hobbits comfortably and 50 uncomfortably. During the busier harvest season the tables were pushed apart and would feed the reapers that Fenton hired to help harvest their crops. On celebrations and birthdays the tables would be taken outside and be piled so high with food that the tables would groan to themselves and all would wonder that they didn't collapse and all would place bets as to when it would. The dates ranged well into the next age. The young woman finished frying the bacon and put it on a platter. She grabbed Wynn as she passed and handed her a frying pan and a basket of eggs and poured some of her drippings in the pan. Wynn glared at her and said loudly, "But Aunt Daisy, it's not my day, it's Gwynne's day." "Wynter, Gwynne baked all those turnovers and you know she's useless with a frying pan. So get to it unless you don't want second breakfast." "Fine" Wynn growled she put the pan down on the fire to heat. Then she went to the cupboard and grabbed a large mixing bowl and a whisk. Daisy poured the bacon fat into a jar. The room was relatively quiet now as most everyone had gone out to wash. Old Ma had finished her arranging and took her place at the foot of the table. Wynn finished beating the eggs and poured the mixture into the skillet. She started to push the mixture about with a spatula. Daisy put the jar down on a shelf next to the fireplace and found a place to sit. As soon as Wynn set the platter of eggs down on the table, Mother went out the kitchen door and a loud clanging was heard. The racket was abominable as everyone stomped over yelling, talking, laughing, and being generally boisterous. How, Ruby would never know, but Wynn managed to secure five seats from the mob. Ruby ended up between Frodo and Pippin; Wynn was between Merry and Sam. Throughout the meal Wynn found herself staring at Merry's scar. It was long and jagged running from his temple diagonally upward to the center of his forehead; the scar was tan and it gave Merry's good-natured face a dangerous edge. He was a hobbit that fervently believed that you could catch more flies with honey then with vinegar, and did. At the moment Merry was comparing Gwynne's apple turnovers with those of his dear old Mum. Everybody was happily eating, everyone that is except Crispin. The little mite was seated to his mother's right, perched upon four tomes, was pushing his food about with his fork despondently. "Muzther, I don wan that" he said petulantly pointing at his pancakes slathered with butter and jam. Mother looked at him tiredly and said, "Well then eat your porridge." The mite shook his head furiously, pouted, and said, "I don want zat eezzer," then settled down looking oddly smug. Merry and Pippin began to smirk, knowing what was coming next. "Well then what do you want, Crispin?" Mother asked, tiredly. "I want ZAT!" Crispin said without missing a beat while pointing at the apple turnovers. "Crispin, darling, you've had three. Three is two too many one little boy". Noticing the coming storm she added, "I'll tell you what my lad, if you eat all your porridge, then you can have half of a turnover, deal?" He pretended to consider it, "Alright", he settled down and ate the offending porridge. The cider alone was worth coming back for, Frodo thought as he sipped his. It warmed the bones and invigorated the body. He heard Ruby laugh at something Pippin was saying. He listened for a bit, oh dear. It was one of Merry and Pippin's earlier stunts, he had already heard the story, but he still laughed when Pip came to the part when he and Merry had to hide in the well and came out covered in muck and decided to scare the girls. He sobered remembering how sick the dynamic duo was after that debacle. He admired Ruby's profile. He was in sore need of a woman, and resolved to go wenching that night. 


End file.
